


Aftermath

by Starlithorizon



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Friendship, Gen, PTSD, after a crash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-15
Updated: 2013-06-15
Packaged: 2017-12-15 00:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/843441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlithorizon/pseuds/Starlithorizon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The crew of MJN Air figures out life after the crash landing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Somewhere Deep in the Dark](https://archiveofourown.org/works/800383) by [EverlivingGhosts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverlivingGhosts/pseuds/EverlivingGhosts). 



> So this EverlivingGhosts's most recent fic has been giving me so many feelings (as crash fics are wont to do), and this ended up happening. I always wonder what happens after they get back to Fitton, and I feel like this is the most cheerful of options, as always.

"It all felt a bit unreal. One minute everything was fine, and the next, we were preparing for a crash landing."

* * *

"It's honestly not something one can ever prepare for. All you can do is brace yourself and hope that it doesn't hurt too badly."

* * *

"The one thing I remember the clearest is wanting my mum."

* * *

"I didn't sleep properly for those whole two weeks. Every time I closed my eyes, I just saw my son's face and I was so afraid that I would never see him again."

* * *

The crew went to interview after interview, and Carolyn found herself turning down more flights in that brief period than she ever had before in order to accommodate them. Everyone wanted to hear about the three members of the charter airline who'd survived in the Russian tundra for very nearly two weeks. Everyone wanted to hear the crew's tales from their own mouths made less nervous with exposure. Everyone wanted to bask in the shared victory of the CEO finding her son and pilots alive.

All four, five if Herc was included (as he ought to be), knew that there would be books written about them. There would be Hollywood films, and Douglas was busy telling everyone that George Clooney ought to be playing him. Already they were doing television and magazine interviews, a few of them bordering on glamorous. Carolyn had enjoyed being a bit dolled up, and everyone thought that Martin had looked positively dashing in that suit with his hair like that.

From the sudden burst of fame, the little lot had found themselves with quite a lot of money to go toward a new plane. Carolyn had insured GERT-I shortly after St. Petersburg and while they hadn't been able to salvage her, they _had_ managed to find another Lockheed McDonnell to fly.

Carolyn wasn't _quite_ making enough to pay Martin yet, but she knew that she would soon. Besides, once the world heard about the boy's living situation, a second MJN fund was born to put him up in a nicer flat in Fitton.

When he went to a royal function with Theresa, he clattered with more medals ("I will have a 'staying alive in the Russian tundra' one made for you, love.") and celebrity. It was like nothing else.

Carolyn had played up the publicity of her boys' crash nearly the second she discovered that they hadn't landed in Moscow, and she had played up the role of terrified mother to all three, really. Truth be told, though, there hadn't been much to play up. The fear had been deep and dark, made heavier by the dread laced through it. Only Herc kept her properly sane, holding her as she cried herself into a doze every night.

The whole airfield had come together at the potential loss of the crew. They helped to organise several fundraisers, including the ones for the new aeroplane and flat.

No one had breathed properly until they were brought home, suffering from hypothermia and malnutrition and infections. All three of her boys had nearly died, her heart right along with them. Their recoveries had been miraculous, especially considering the extent of each man's damage, and she'd cried with relief with the news that they would soon be back in Fitton with her.

Despite all the good, everyone worried about the attendant bad. Carolyn still lived in the same house as Arthur, and it broke her heart to hear his cries in the night. Martin stayed with Douglas for a spell, partially for fear of being alone, partially for fear of _Douglas_ being alone. Lord knew what an event like this might do to an alcoholic.

PTSD or not, the men hadn't changed much save for a profound faith in each other. Arthur had always believed in his two pilots, and Martin had always sort of internally believed in Douglas, but it was nothing like this. Each was fully convinced of the wonderfulness of the others. More than that, though, there was an underlying fear of separation. Carolyn still remembered the way Douglas roared at the hospital staff until they relented and let the three of them share a room when they were brought back to England.

She couldn't blame him, though.

She, Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, hater of the hug, was continually finding reasons to touch them. She was always brushing stray bits of lint from Martin's jacket, smoothing Douglas's lapels, and neatening Arthur's hair. No one minded, though, as they all needed her minute caresses to remind them that all of this was real.

Despite everything, though, the interviews and movies (a dozen were made, and only two weren't complete rubbish) and gifts, they were still the same ridiculous little airdot as ever. Martin and Douglas still played stupid word games, Arthur still brought in the teas and coffees, and Carolyn still thought they were all the most ridiculous things in the sky.

Though there were nightmares and nerves, they were still MJN Air, and they would always be all right.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, I know that Carolyn was with the boys in the inspiring fic, and they weren't in Russia for two weeks, and stuff like that. This isn't necessarily the aftermath of _that_ crash (as you can tell by my shocking lack of Skipthur) so much as what might happen after any possible crash. I do enjoy speculating.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Control](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1321588) by [Glowbug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glowbug/pseuds/Glowbug)




End file.
